TOURIST Police arrested a Russian man for operating a motorcycle rental business on Koh Phangan with his customers mainly being Israeli women, Naewna newspaper said today (Sep. 25).
Acting on a tipoff a team of Tourist Police together with local and Immigration officers tracked down and apprehended Mr. Timofei Kariagin, 30, in an alley opposite Deli Devi restaurant while teaching a foreign woman how to ride a motorbike. They also seized 10 motorcycles.
He was charged with operating a business and working here without permits.
The foreign woman said she contacted the motorcycle rental company via WhatsApp after her Israeli friend mentioned it. She had agreed to a rental price of 400 baht a day or 8,000 baht a month.
The Russian man did not collect a deposit nor kept his client’s passport and parked his motorcycles at various places for his customers to use to avoid detection by the authorities.
Kariagin confessed to having run this business for over six months earning as much as 150,000 baht a month. He also modified and fitted four wheels to some of his motorbikes to make it easier for his primarily Israeli women clients.
After seizing the suspect’s motorcycles from various places he was taken to Koh Phangan police station for further legal action.
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The Russian suspect being arrested. Photo: Naewna
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